At Gilbert High School, students have an option, if they want, to go down the AP route (starting in 9th grade) or the IB route (starting in 11th grade). With AP classes come some pros and MANY cons. Some pros would be: college credit and a deeper understanding of the subject. When it comes to IB however, some pros are: better life balance, open-mindedness, opportunities to take risks, teamwork, and support from peers. When it comes down to the cores for each path a student can go down, IB is OBVIOUSLY the better option. I’m not here to change any opinion or upset the student body but if you want to stop reading, or if you want to see what I have to say, you can go at any point. What am I going to do, stop you? With the introduction out of the way, I would like to state why I despise AP and then state why I don’t dislike IB in any fashion.

AP… short for Advanced Placement… I loathe AP!!! I have taken two AP classes, AP Government/Economics and AP World History. Now, I think the reason why I hate AP so much is because they were part of my personal, least favorite subject: History. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make assumptions about any other AP classes. I dislike AP for many reasons, I could list so many reasons that the next paragraph wouldn’t even start until the next page. I won’t do that to myself though. Anyway, when I was in AP World History last year I often found myself struggling with the workload and time management. Even with SOME help, and I say “some” with a grain of salt, I STILL wasn’t quite grasping onto the vocabulary, the Document-Based Questions, the repetitiveness, and even the restrictions, and force I felt within the class. As you might have guessed, this made me SUPER stressed so I dropped out into on-level. As far as AP Government/Economics goes, I dropped within the first quarter. I felt so stupid in those classrooms, and I would NEVER wish that upon myself so that is why I’m not a HUGE fan of AP at ALL. Don’t even get me STARTED on those AP Exams! It must suck for someone who tries their hardest in that AP class, stay for the ENTIRE year, take the test, and find out that they obtained a failing grade to get the credit for college. On TOP of that, the AP Exams might happen AFTER school; this could mess up the student’s schedule. I’ll stop yapping about AP, it’s making me seethe just typing about it. My feelings towards IB are so positive, so starting now I won’t be bawling my eyes out!

IB!!! International Baccalaureate!!! How formal, at least that’s what I think. IB isn’t just for the hopes of getting the college credit, I mean it COULD be if you want, rather it is for the sense of togetherness you feel with your peers. I’ve personally always viewed IB classes as a time to get together with classmates and become a giant family. There are two types of IB a student can go down, they can’t go down both though. The IB Diploma Programme, which I will call DP, and the IB Career Programme, this one I will call CP, are the two options. They are very similar in the ways in that they have the same overall goal, to “develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect,” however the CP is meant for student who have a good idea on what they want to do for their future career and the DP is more general learning to later on narrow down what you want to do for your future career. They are both beneficial in their own spectacular ways and shape a student into the best version of themselves. For the CP, students take at least two IB classes per year and take their CTE (Career and Technical Education) both years for their future career; they also take PPS (Personal & Professional Skills)! In the DP, students take all IB classes as well as TOK (Theory of Knowledge).

Alright, I’ll admit something… AP is tough and so is IB. To succeed in these you have to be committed and WILLING to learn. There is no reliance on the 50% rule to pass these classes, the teachers care about you and will do anything to help you succeed; the student has to also take accountability though and ASK for help rather than waiting to receive it. IB and AP are great paths for students to go down and leave these students in a way better state in the years following, even if AP is not as fun to accomplish. To end off, what do you want to do, it is NOT my job to persuade you. If you put your mind to what you want to achieve, I’m sure your confidence will overcome anything you want to do in your education!